Post Office – Price Increase Now for Texas Holiday Shipping

A lot of families are close-knit in Texas. Not only are the physical and emotional bonds of families in our state close but often times the physical distance between generations of the same family can be measured in just a few miles or only a few minutes.

That's why the holiday season in communities such as Lufkin, Tyler, and Longview is so special. Quite often, other than Santa himself, the packages and presents are hand-delivered by family members from right down the road.

But for those of us who have loved ones who do live several hours or even time zones away, there is always the United States Postal Service. The USPS has been criticized as of late for not being the most efficiently run "ship in the shipping business".  And while we can see some basis for that criticism we also know the Post Office provides consistent service at a fair price most of the time.

So in order to keep up with the demand brought on by the extra packages mailed out during the holiday season the Postal Service has announced a temporary, their word, not ours, rate increase that's in effect as of October 6th.

The higher costs will be noticed by those who use USPS Ground Advantage, Priority Mail, and Priority Mail Express to ship parcels between now and January 19th of next year. Price increases could be as little as .30 cents or up to $16 depending on the services chosen and the size and weight of the item being shipped.

USPS has also published holiday shipping deadlines that you'll want to be aware of ahead of the holiday rush. These were published on Al.com via the USPS website. 

2024 Holiday Mailing and Shipping Dates for Items Sent to Addresses in the Contiguous United States:

USPS Ground Advantage service: Dec. 18
First-Class Mail service: Dec. 18
Priority Mail service: Dec. 19
Priority Mail Express service: Dec. 21
2024 Holiday Mailing and Shipping Dates for Items Sent to Addresses in Alaska and Hawaii:

USPS Ground Advantage service: Dec. 16
First-Class Mail service: Dec. 18\

Priority Mail service: Dec. 19

Priority Mail Express service: Dec. 20

Please note that there are much earlier deadlines for those wishing to ship items to overseas destinations including military addresses. For those deadlines, you may use this link.